How Good Can Under $1 a Tube Watercolor Be? SHINHAN Professional Watercolor Review

Hi friends! Every once in a while you find a “too good to be true” art supple it is actually really good! That’s the case with the set of 30 Shinhan professional watercolors I bought for around $25 on Amazon a couple of months ago.

I painted this donut and leaves with them and they were surprisingly lovely!

But still, these paints are less than $1 a tube making them cheaper than most of the student grad brands I recommend like Cotman, Van Gogh, La Petite Aquarelle and Grumbacher Academy so what’s the deal? Find out in this video review!

So yes they are great, they are a steal for the quality BUT I wouldn’t rate them as god as my other artist quality paints for a couple of reasons:

1. They are not totally transparent when used at full strength.

2. A few pigment colors are not lightfast.

3. The paint can lift easily which is nice for beginners who may wish to fix a mistake but can be problematic if you want to glaze many layers.

I would rate them as a high-end student watercolor through and they are more pigmented than most other student brands. Here are the “Pros” of this line of paint:

1. Price: The 30 color set is around $25 and the 12 color set is about $14

2. Color payout-very rich and vibrant colors that dilutes and mixes well.

3. Many single pigment colors

4. Pigment numbers are printed on each tube so you know what your paint is made of

5. Colors dry down well in a palette with no cracking

6. Dry paint rewets instantly with a wet brush

Shinhan makes a premium high-end watercolor called Shinhan Premium Watercolor which comes in larger tubes and is more expensive: $85.50 for 32 15ml tubes (but still not bad considering the cost of many other paints) and they also have a student grade of watercolors so this so-called “professional” range is in the middle. I think it’s a great buy for someone wanting nice paints to learn, practise or experiment with but you might be disappointed if you are going to use them in many layers plus the lightfastness of a couple of colors is questionable. I was really impressed with these paints for the price and I would love to try their premium range. I hope you found this review helpful and til next time happy crafting!